Multi-view recording of a head-fixed mouse performing an air-induced running task on the transparent wheel, showing ventral, frontal, and lateral views with synchronized locomotion speed. The mouse runs in response to an airstream directed toward its back. Airflow begins at 0 seconds in the graph, and the LED turns on synchronously with airflow onset (Supplementary Material 7).
Video: Paranjape, P. S., Ghohaki, T. M., & Inayat, S. Supplementary Material 7, Scientific Reports 16, 26691 (2026). Used unchanged under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS · 2026
A transparent wheel-based platform for locomotion-on-demand and multi-view body and facial kinematics in head-fixed mice
We developed an open-source, transparent wheel-based platform that combines air-stream-induced locomotion with synchronized multi-camera videography. It provides a controlled, reproducible way to measure whole-body, limb, paw, and facial kinematics while remaining compatible with in-vivo neural recording.
- Locomotion on demand: mild air delivery reliably evokes structured forward running with clear air-on and air-off transitions.
- Multi-view kinematics: optical-flow analysis and pose estimation quantify stimulus-locked changes in paw speed, limb coordination, and facial movement.
- Precise synchronization: an LED signal enables event-level alignment across independently recorded video streams without specialized hardware.
- Open accessibility: hardware files, 3D-printing designs, materials, and Python/MATLAB workflows are freely available.